bowmanblue When old (and by 'old' I mean in the eighties!) horror films are discussed, you normally hear about the Friday 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street franchises. Granted, they were the most successful, yet for some reason the unsubtly-titled 'Maniac Cop' never really gets a mention. This is surprising for two reasons: the first is that it stars Evil Dead lynchpin Bruce Campbell and, secondly, it's actually quite good.Okay, so when I say 'good' I kind of mean that it's good if you know what you're getting. And you should. In the same way as if you watched 'Snakes on a Plane' you should know what kind of film you're about to sit down to. Maniac Cop is a horror, vaguely slasher film, although rather than having an unstoppable brute mercilessly stalking a bunch of over-sexed teens, you have an unstoppable, well, maniac policeman stalking people in a major U.S. city.But, fear not good citizens, for every nut-job with a badge who wants to hack you to pieces for running a red light, there's an honest cop waiting to solve the mystery (and a mayor who doesn't want to admit that there's a problem – kind of like that official in 'Jaws,' but we're dealing with a shark with a truncheon here). So, our decent, law-abiding boy in blue sets out to investigate the strange sightings of a cop out of control. But our hero isn't Bruce Campbell. He's also in it, but spends a large portion of the film in a cell. That's not really a spoiler as it happens almost directly after meeting him. However, he does – as in many cheesy horror films – tend to steal every scene he's in and the film wouldn't be half so much fun without him (even if his 'boomstick' never makes an appearance.As I mentioned, Maniac Cop never received the attention other – equally B-movie – horror flicks got and perhaps that's because it's (if I'm being generous) a little uneven (and if you don't like the film you'll probably call it 'all over the place plot-wise). It's like it really wants to be taken seriously as a film, yet exhibits no real traits of anything other than a B-movie horror film. Everyone plays it straight and there's nothing particularly tongue-in-cheek here. The plot has various elements and threads which start heading in one direction, only to go off in another. Like I said, this could be a deliberate attempt to mislead the audience by the writer, or it could just be sloppy writing. We may never know.However, what I do know is that Maniac Cop – for all its numerous faults – is actually quite good fun and well worth a watch if you're into horror (and Jason-style slasher) films in general. See it quickly before it's remade for the worse (Evil Dead, I'm looking at you).

Sandcooler "Maniac Cop" definitely has one of the coolest villain designs and backstories I've ever seen. By 1988 it was tough to find something that hadn't been done before in this genre, but this one is completely unique. It surpasses the genre, because we get characters we actually care about in situations that are actually unpredictable and suspenseful. Director William Lustig also does some amazing things with dark back alleys, the movie bathes in a chilling atmosphere. However, the last fifteen minutes of this movie are so dumb that they kinda pull you right out. None of the characters' actions make any sense anymore, everything happens simply because the movie is wrapping up. The big showdown between our hero and the killer is an incredible letdown, and the 'twist' at the end is as transparant as they come. It's almost like they were getting close to a deadline or something. Thankfully, all this comes after an infinitely rewatchable first hour or so.

Predrag The story (written by Larry Cohen of "It's Alive" fame) is just about as straightforward as you can get: a guy's dressing up as a cop and going out and hacking the stuffing out of people, first at random, then with a clear vendetta in mind. Tom Atkins plays the tough as nails but honest as a boy-scout detective who decides he's got to unravel the whole thing, even if it means airing out some dirty laundry at the mayor's office. Along the way, Bruce Campbell turns up as the prime suspect, and he's determined to prove his innocence! The pace is great, especially at the beginning where some films will bog you down with trying to get to know their one dimensional characters as if that has any relevance in a film like this. Nope, Maniac Cop doesn't pretend its characters are people it gets right down to the nitty gritty of murdering victims. Murder, meet Tom Atkins and see that his boss doesn't like him much, murder, get to see a couple more scenes of Atkins, murder, hello this is Bruce Campbell he could be the killer but murder happens and it's not likely he did it. No stringing you along, no pretension that this is anything but a slasher film through and through. While we're on the topic of murder, the killings are all done well. There's not an especially high level of variety or creativity to them, but it's not a film that calls for that kind of thing anyway. There's stranglings, stabbings, hangings, quite down to earth, almost even realistic within the story. The level of gore is also just right.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

nzswanny So, I started watching the movie thinking it'll be terrible, and so the movie started off with a cop dressing up. I thought that it was an okay credits scene, and so the movie starts off with a woman walking along the streets. Some criminals come and try to take her money, and she starts running away from them. They come chasing after her, and so she suddenly runs into the maniac cop, the villain of the movie. Predictably, he kills her. And so, that's how the movie starts, and myself I thought the start was...meh. And so, about several minutes later, it felt like a million death scenes just happened in 14 minutes. Now, to be honest the first 15 minutes is complete garbage and not connected to the story AT ALL. It was just about the maniac cop killing everyone for 15 minutes, and I was about to switch the movie off in five minutes when suddenly, the movie actually got to the story! I was so happy, and so we have a detective trying to figure out who is killing everyone. Great! And we also have a woman that finds her husband cheating on her, and she think's he is the maniac cop! I thought the man that cheated on her would be the maniac cop, but no, I was proved wrong in the end! Although, I can't quite tell you the twist now, can I? I thought so :) anyway, this movie is brilliant after the first fifteen minutes of garbage. You'll love this movie, and the twist may be predictable for horror fans, but it won't be predictable for most people. I am really glad this movie got a trilogy, and I do hope that if they ever make a Maniac Cop 4 and 5 they will not ruin the series, also if you want to go see an action movie, don't watch this. This isn't an action. It's not even really a horror, actually. It's a mystery. Although, because of the twist I would call it a horror. 10/10 if you include out the first 15 minutes.